Looking at the three corpses now on the floor, I noticed something interesting. A kind of mana particles of a different color from the ambient mana I passively absorbed. The mana was dissipating, but I stopped it.
Using the control I had over the dungeon, I attracted those particles. Upon touching the walls and floor, I noticed something interesting—my stats increased slightly, about ten or twenty points.
And the surprises didn't stop there. A flood of memories invaded me.
This was definitely getting interesting.
---
[Dragon Rock City — Continent of Agartha]
Kai cursed with all his strength as furious rage swirled in his chest.
Elena, Lyra, and Dorn had been killed by that dungeon. He could only curse himself for being overconfident and wanting to delve deeper to kill the boss.
"Damn it!" Kai growled, punching a tree. The high-grade health potion had healed the gash in his chest.
His eyes focused deeper into the forest where the dungeon lay, filled with unsettling hatred.
He would destroy the core no matter if it was the last thing he did.
Lyra, his fiancée. Elena, his oldest friend. And Dorn, who had joined them when they were just starting to take guild missions.
Kai looked at Kael, the sole survivor, equally affected by the death of three companions.
"Let's go. We need to get to Dragon Rock to report this discovered dungeon to the guild," Kai said to his friend.
"We're leaving it like this?" Kael asked angrily.
"Of course not. I'll make sure—no, we'll make sure to destroy that damned dungeon if it's the last thing I do," he swore, his eyes burning with unimaginable hatred.
The caravan escort journey continued with three members fewer. After a week of travel, they finally reached Dragon Rock and headed straight for the guild without hesitation.
Inside the guild hall, Kai observed the young hunters starting to take missions to advance their ranks.
After waiting his turn, he looked at the guild receptionist—a young woman who didn't give him a second glance.
"Welcome to the guild. If you wish to register, the fee is one silver coin. If you wish to create a mission, please wait a moment until our staff assist you," the receptionist said.
Kai sighed.
"I'm not here for missions. I'm here to report something," he said, finally making the receptionist look at him.
"And what would that be?"
"I'd prefer to speak with the guild leader," he said, noticing dozens of curious stares directed at them.
"Of course. Certainly. Follow me."
---
[Continent of Agartha — Unknown Forest]
Well, that experience was certainly quite strange. I discovered some interesting things from viewing those memories.
I suppose I'll go in order.
The first memories I saw were from the second warrior, whose name was Dorn. In his early years, he was the son of some hunters in his village, learning his father's trade. One day, a hunter arrived at his village and instructed him for a few days before leaving. Because he thought the warrior was so amazing, he trained to become a hunter himself, where he was lucky enough to join a novice group.
That was all the information I received.
I should clarify that the memories didn't influence me in any way. It was, so to speak, like watching a movie without being affected by it. Or at least, that's the best way I can describe it.
Anyway, this confirmed an assumption I had when I first saw them.
In this mishmash of worlds, the ubiquitous adventurers are called Hunters and are divided by ranks ranging from F to S.
Ranks like SS or SSS belong to beings from ancient times who were named heroes, or directly gods because of their overwhelming power.
In these ranks existed divine beasts—or at least, that's what I learned from the information.
Well, next was the priestess. Her name was Lyra. I have to admit I felt a little bad for killing her.
Well, just a little.
Her life was normal. She grew up in a noble family that served the goddess of light and life, learning in the temple to handle sacred powers.
This confused me a bit. The gods were dead, so how can there still be gods?
Well, the answer was still unknown, but my guess is that these were the ancient heroes who were surely at SS or even SSS rank.
I still don't fully understand this mechanic.
Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.
The point is that the priestess Lyra, after completing her training at the temple, joined a childhood friend—who was warrior number one—and they formed the adventuring group that the second warrior later joined.
Something curious: she was pregnant. Well, not fully, since the embryo had only been forming for a week.
I didn't feel bad about this. After all, they were invaders. Maybe it's a bit cold of me, but I'm no longer human, so my empathy and morality are extremely low.
Finally, it was the mage's turn, and that's where I discovered more important things.
Leaving aside her normal childhood and the fact that she was a brainiac, I focused on the magic of this world.
Magic worked through two methods. The first was the mana core that both warriors and mages possessed. However, this varied.
Those who have a mana core in their bodies use mana to reinforce their body—bones, cartilage, ligaments, and everything else. Although they couldn't cast spells like mages, they could use one or two simple spells. They were fighters.
Then there were the mages. Unlike fighters, they used mana to create magical spells linked to different mediums.
First was the medium—generally a magic crystal or monster core that channeled the mana. Then there was the spell formation. Here you needed a clear mental image to invoke it, as well as the amount of mana you used.
Too much, and it explodes. Too little, and it's useless. Honestly, this surprised me. I always thought mages just shouted names and then everything else happened, but no—there was a whole theory behind how magic worked in this world.
Leaving aside the use of magic, this mage possessed good theoretical knowledge about dungeons, and with that, I filled in the blanks.
One of my main current problems was the limited space I had, which was too little.
The method to obtain more space was quite obvious and made me feel stupid.
It was in one of my skills: Dungeon Expansion.
Instead of manipulating what was inside my domain, I simply had to expand it.
How to do it?
Simply put, I needed to expel mana around me to integrate it with myself, and in that way, I would have more territory. That's how the dungeon could extend and deepen itself.
To do this, I had to use my own mana, not the ambient mana I absorbed to generate DP.
Now speaking of DP, my current point total was around twenty thousand—enough to strengthen and modify my first floor and begin creating the second floor.
I didn't know how much time I had until hunters arrived because of my dungeon's existence, so I had to be quick.